The full effects of air pollution are often debated within the United States, in which the standing argument is that the proposed health effects have yet to be fully seen within the country. However, many other countries are already experiencing the results of climate change. As shown in The Guardian article (see attached article), countries such as India and Pakistan are suffering due to the rapid spread of diseases and large increases in temperature. A combination of a rising elderly population and increasingly brutal heatwaves has led to rising deaths during the hot months in recent years, which are lasting longer than previously noted. The rising temperatures are also causing mosquitoes and the viruses they carry to breed at a more rapid pace, thus spreading the diseases further and adding to the already-packed hospitals.
As we know from our class, air particulates have a great effect on human health. Air particulates, both coarse and fine, can cause major respiratory problems when inhaled, and can lead to long term effects if they remain within the bloodstream and lungs. Air pollution also has led to an increase in temperatures, both in the destruction of the ozone layer (via catalytic free radical reactions) and by retaining the radiation from the sun within the thick layers of smog that have coated nations. These outbreaks in disease and heatwaves are not limited to third world countries: As stated in the article, the air pollution within the United Kingdom has caused up to 40,000 deaths. Air pollution is also causing crises in the food market, where the smog has began to cause food shortages because not enough sunlight is able to reach the crops.
Overall, climate change is at a point in which we can no longer ignore the effects of human activity on the earth. I think that if more people realized that though we may not be experiencing many of the effects of climate change and air pollution, the same erosion of health and living that has impacted so many people may not be too far in the future.
Cited Article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/30/climate-change-already-damaging-health-of-millions-globally-report-finds
This posting could be improved by making the link to the article clickable, and having some description about the picture — is it an Indian hospital? I notice that the original article seems to confuse air pollution and climate change at several points, and some of this has spilled over into this posting.